The best seat in the house is the view from the couch

Quick Thoughts - Week 16

Thoughts while wondering how many times I’ll be subjected to the Eli Manning / Ryan Leaf comparison before next season…

• 23 games and counting now: number of games in which the Patriots have scored first, yesterday waiting until the second quarter to break the 0-0 tie.
• 72 days and counting: number of days since a professional sports team from the New York/New Jersey area defeated one from the Boston/New England area (October 16^th – ALCS Game 3). Hell, even the Celtics beat the Knicks twice! Not that I’m keeping track…
• 16 weeks and counting: since the Giants threw a TD pass to a starting Wide Receiver. I’m starting to think that maybe it is the receivers’ fault for not getting open enough…
• I’m wondering what the line will open at for the Pats/Niners season finale next week at Gillette. Pats (-14)? (-21)? (-35)? Anybody? And would anyone be surprised to see that line?
• Congratulations to Peyton Manning, for doing something that nobody ever thought he could do. Leading his team back from a 4^th quarter deficit in a big game. Oh, and there’s that touchdown thing too…
• Best game I actually got to watch this weekend? KC/Oakland, no doubt. No defense, tons of offense, and three chances to grab the lead with under three minutes in the game. Outstanding, even if the game meant nothing.
• Worst game? Miami/Cleveland. This was sick. I actually only watched one series, preferring instead to tune into CBS and “Ocean’s Eleven” (which I’ve seen about fifteen times). Let’s put it this way – midway through the third quarter I turned it on to see the Dolphins intercept a pass, try to lateral it and fumble, recover, then successfully complete a lateral, then fumble it anyway - the ball was recovered by the Browns. Net result? The Browns gained 27 yards and a first down. Just all around bad play. So of course the Dolphins won 10-7.
• I really need a satellite dish, if only for Sunday Ticket (and maybe MLB extra innings).
• The Jaguars really shot themselves in the foot yesterday. All they had to do was win out against a mediocre team (Houston) and a bad team (Oakland) and they were basically assured the playoffs. Now they need about fifteen things to go right for them to back their way into the postseason.
• Amazing as it might sound, the Vikings are not in the playoffs yet. They still need St. Louis to lose one of their last two games (tonight vs. Phily or next week against the Jets) or the Vikes need to beat the Redskins in D.C. next week. Don’t be surprised if they’re watching the playoffs again this year.
• Buffalo might be the team that gets shafted the worst this season. They stand a good chance to go 10-6, hosting the Steelers in a game that is meaningless for Pittsburgh next week. But the Bills would still need Denver to lose, at home, to a Colts team that has nothing to gain by showing up. Looks like it’s gonna be too little, too late for Drew and the crew.
• Carolina, on the other hand, already holds the tiebreaker for the #6 seed in the NFC, and all they have to do is beat the Saints, in Carolina, to clinch. Now that would be amazing.
• Does anyone else realize that the Cardinals weren’t eliminated until yesterday? Stupid parity…

Couple of other notes to pass along:

I played in another live poker tournament at Foxwoods on Thursday, this one a $100 buy-in No Limit Hold-‘Em game. No rebuys, so everyone plays just a little tighter. Everyone has $2000 to start - 1500 in $500 chips, 300 in $100 chips and 200 in $25 chips. I played extremely well – making good reads, winning big hands, etc. I only had one hand mucked to me – I won every race, every showdown, everything. Well, every one except for one. Let me tell you about a couple of hands…

After the first two hours, I was sitting pretty with about 8000 in chips when the average was about 4500. I caught pocket 8’s in the big blind (100-200, 25 ante). A guy at the end of my table bet 500. The small blind raised to 1000, and I re-raised to 3000. Looking back, that was not the right play, since 8’s aren’t very strong with two other players in the hand pre-flop.

The first bettor folded, and the small blind called. The flop came up Js-2s-8d, giving me a set and him, at best, a flush or straight draw. He bet 2000 and I immediately raised over the top all-in. He called without even hesitating, and was pretty angry when he saw just how far behind his A-J unsuited was. The turn and river brought nothing, and when we broke down our stacks, I found out I had him covered – by one $25 chip.

After what was basically a double-up, I was overall chip leader with less than 90 of 250 people left. Some of you may remember the last time I was overall chip leader late in a big tournament, and how that worked out for me. Right.

A couple of trips around the table, and a couple of small wins, and I was in the big blind again. This time I held A-J suited. Not a terrible hand to have in the big blind. A kid at the other end of my table raised from the 400 big blind to 1600 (he had a pretty big stack too). The guy directly next to him went all in for about 2300. It came around to me and I went all-in over the top with my 16,000-chip stack. The first bettor looked sick, since he had essentially just given away either 1600 chips or his entire stack, depending on if he wanted to call (truth be told, I didn’t want a call – I figured the other all-in to have a pair and I didn’t want to have to chase down two players when one would suffice. I even told him “Hey, nothing personal – didn’t want to have to chase two of you.”)

He folded and the all-in showed his pocket kings. I caught a jack, but nothing else, and he doubled up at my expense. This hand also knocked me from overall chip leader to #2, behind the kid who had made the 1600-chip raise. I now had 12,000+ chips – he had somewhere around 13,500.

Next hand, I’m the small blind (obviously). Still at the 200-400 level with a $50 ante. I get A-Q suited. Ugh. Around the table we go, and the same kid makes the same raise to 1600 chips. Everyone folds, and I go all-in once again. Once again he looks like he’s about to throw up. Someone says “Uh oh, now it’s personal…” Sitting there, stone-faced, I was thinking to myself “If he calls, I’m probably way behind…”

He called. He flipped A-8 suited. He looked even sicker when he saw my A-Q. And even worse when the guy to my left, the Big Blind, said, “Damn, I folded 8-8. Thought at least one of you had Aces or Kings.”

Within seconds, this turned into a made for TV showdown. This was the type of hand where you’d hear Norman Chad saying things like “There’s only one card he can catch to win this – D is about a 9-1 favorite to win this hand”. Then the flop came up 6-7-9 rainbow. Now I could hear Norman saying “And that gives the youngster a few more outs, any 5, 10, or 8. But there is only one 8 in the deck, so he’s probably hoping for the 5 or 10.”

Turn brought another 7. Now with the board pair, if a 6 or a 9 came down we’d split the pot with two-pair and our ace kickers. He could still beat me with a 5, 10, or the last 8; otherwise I’d double up and cripple him.

Naturally, the river was the last 8. There was a loud groan from everyone at the table, as well as the next table over that decided to watch the hand since both chip leaders were involved. I tried to slink away to a corner where I could fume over my luck once again, as everyone at the table shook my hand and said things like “Tough beat” and “Geez, that hurts”. Even the guy who beat me couldn’t crack a smile – He knew how bad it was.

I found out later that he won the tournament outright – and the $5000 first place prize. That would’ve been nice, considering that I could use the money – I don’t do this whole writing thing because the pay is good…

Anyway, that was how my last tournament ended. I got home and immediately played about four tourneys online just to try and administer bad beats to as many people as I could (and I did, too). But that’s why I love poker. Everything evens out in the end.

Finally, the passing of a legend. I’m starting to think that I should have led off with this just so you wouldn’t all be bummed out after reading today. But oh well…

Reggie White’s passing was about as unexpected as a death can ever be, although none of us ever really knows when we are going to die. I turned on my computer yesterday morning and saw the “Breaking News” headline on ESPN.com. I honestly thought I had fallen back to sleep and was still dreaming. For someone that was so beloved in his community and among his peers to have fallen so young is a tragedy.

I only got to watch him after he joined the Packers in 1992 – I never watched the Eagles in the late 80’s, it was Pats or Bills or bust. White really turned that franchise around. From the glory days of TitleTown to the down and out years just before Brett Favre arrived, Green Bay was down as low as they’d ever been. Then a hulk of a man joined the Pack as a free agent and suddenly the team was legitimate again. Ever since Reggie and Brett appeared in Green Bay the team has been riding a wave of success, including the Super Bowl win over my Pats in ’96, and another appearance the next year against the unstoppable force of the 1997-98 Denver Broncos.

Early reports say he died from a combination of being morbidly overweight and suffering from severe sleep apnea. I too am morbidly overweight and suffer from severe sleep apnea, two things I’ve tried to correct in the past with no luck. But now, I think it’s time for me to take a long, hard look at myself and fix the problems, fast.

See, I didn’t want to end on a downer, but between the two stories, neither one was really going to let you leave with a smile on your face. Well, I guess I’ll have to repeat one of my quick thoughts so we can end on a happy note:

• 72 days and counting: number of days since a professional sports team from the New York/New Jersey area defeated one from the Boston/New England area.

posted by Big D @ 10:26 AM